My Daily Routine – Toddler Edition

8am

He doesn’t cry or moan, but just starts babbling to himself, which we hear through the Angel-care Monitor we have hooked up in his bedroom. We turn off his monitor in our bedroom and go into his where we are almost always greeted by him standing up in his cot, jumping up and down with excitement. It really is the best start to any morning.

We go downstairs and change his nappy, apply his eczema creams and get him dressed.

8.45am

Matthew suffers quite badly from reflux and so he needs medication before he can eat. We give him a 5mg dose of Omeprazole in water which he willingly drinks. We then have to wait 15-20 minutes before he can eat to ensure that it is in his system and working. He also gets his daily Abidec dose at this time.

9.00am

We start preparing Matthews breakfast. He is very much a creature of habit and so we tend not to change up the menu that often. Right now he is having Shredded Wheat with warm Soy Milk, but he also enjoys Weetabix and Porridge.

He has a BIG portion, but despite this he generally gobbles his breakfast up in about 10 minutes which he then follows with some water to wash it all down.

9.15am

Breakfast done and dusted, so it’s time to relax for a bit to let it settle in his tummy and stop him from bringing it all back up. Still in his high chair, I will set up Peppa Pig on his iPad. He loves this more than anything in the world (even more than his Daddy and I, I’m sure of it). He will watch this for about 30-45 minutes while I clear away the breakfast dishes and make myself something to eat.

10am

Time to play.

I make a real effort to do an activity with him a few times a week, which can include me singing to him, reading him some books, practising his Flash Cards or painting. On this occasion we went through his Song Bag (which I have have a blog post on). He loves this.

I like to do this sort of interacting as Matthew struggles to keep eye contact otherwise, but if I sing he looks straight at me during the entire song, grunting at the end if he wants me to do another one. It’s our little mother and son moment and I love it.

I try to do this kind of activity for about 30 minutes (or as long as Matthew will let me).

10.30am

Independent play time.

Matthew is obsessed with throwing and kicking his ball up and down the livingroom and he will happily do this for hours on end, but I also try to encourage him to play with some of his sensory toys (spiky light up ball, chuckle ball, mega bloks etc) so I leave them all over the livingroom so that they’re within his sight. Sometimes he is just dead set on playing with his ball, and that’s fine, but I try to encourage him anyway.

11.30am

Despite his general refusal, I will stop Matthew playing at about 12pm every day. He has many sensory issues and can get quite overloaded and overwhelmed if he plays for much longer than this, which makes him clumsy and grumpy. So this is always a good time to get him back into his high chair and let him chill out with a little snack. This will usually be an oat bar and some veggie crisps.

This is then followed by a cuddle on the couch with mummy and a bottle of warmed milk. He drinks about 6oz at this time, which sets him up nicely for his afternoon nap.

12.00pm

With his cuddle blanket in tow and wrapped up in his sleeping bag, we make our way back upstairs to his bedroom where I pull his blinds down and tuck him in for a sleep.

He is generally wiped out by this time and so he falls over really quickly.

12.10pm

Sleeping.

2.30pm

Matthew has really started enjoying his nap time. He can sleep for anywhere for 2-3 hours each afternoon. It recharges his batteries, allowing him to run wild again when he wakes back up!

So around this time I will hear/ see him moving about his cot. He never cries or moans… Just plods up and down playing with his teddy bears and chatting to himself.

I get the same reaction when I go into his room in the afternoon, as I do first thing… A great big smile!

I remove his sleeping back, remake his bed and then we head back downstairs for another snack.

2.45pm

While I prep his afternoon snack I pop him in his playpen, that way I’m not running in and out the livingroom every 10 seconds to make sure he’s not climbing the walls!

I usually try to have something prepared for him but on the occasions where I don’t I usually go for Toast & Peanut Butter which is always a winner. He will have this with a fruit smoothie, some dairy-free chocolate buttons and water.

I feed him everything except his fruit smoothie, which he has only recently learned how to hold.

This whole process takes about 30 minutes.

3.15pm

Again, like his other mealtimes, Matthew will stay in his high chair for a while after hes eaten whilst being entertained by none other than Peppa Pig (FML)!

This gives me time to start sorting out the dinner for all of us in the evening.

4pm

Food all settled in his tummy so I will take Matthew out of his highchair and let him play. As usual, he will throw and kick his ball up and down the livingroom.

5.30pm

Daddy’s home!!!

This is the Matthews favourite part of the day. He adores his daddy, and struggles greatly with him not being home throughout the week. So as soon as he walks through the door it is playtime.

He and daddy roll about the floor, play with the ball outside and just run about daft after one another until dinner is ready.

6pm

Dinner time!

Matthew is going through a stage of liking beige foods and so Fish Fingers is always a firm favourite. He will have this with a smoothie, dessert & water.

6.45pm

This is chill time and washing up time for Matthew.

He has quite a strong aversion to baths and so we’ve had to resort to him going in a shower with his dad. Don’t get me wrong, he still absolutely HATES it, but he is much more comfortable in his daddy’s arms, and we have gotten it down to an impressive 5 minute process so as to inflict the least amount of pain to our boy.

This is followed by a massage and application of his eczema creams, as well as some fresh pj’s.

7.15pm

Once Matthew is all freshly dressed and ready for bed, we will read him a couple of books on the couch before he gets his bottle.

Matthew then lies with either his daddy or I, and drinks a 9oz bottle of heated soy milk. He takes about 15 minutes to finish it, and cuddles in for a half hour afterwards. This gives his tummy time to settle and it’s also the only time he does will voluntarily dish out some cuddles (without being asleep).

8.30pm

Daddy does Matthews bedtime every night. It was a routine we got into without realising and so it has become normal and expected for Matthew. I give my boy a cuddle and a kiss and daddy puts him to bed. He has a little musical frog next to his cot which lights up and plays music which his daddy puts on every night after he goes down, as well as his Angel Care monitor.

He is very restless when he first goes to bed and while move about and pace up and down his cot for a good 10-15 minutes, before he settles down, gets comfortable and goes off to the land of nod.

He’s a great baby and is so pleasant and easy… We really couldn’t have been more blessed than to have this beautiful boy in our lives!

Post navigation

My name is Danielle and I am a Wife, Photographer, ASD advocate & Preemie-Mummy to my beautiful little miracle Matthew. Follow along with me while I navigate the world of Toddlers and the Autism Spectrum.

This blog will be an open and honest representation of my life as a mummy as well as everything else in between.